Wall construction



W; R. KEATIN'G.

WALL cohs'nucnoa Filed Feb.

Oct.8,l940.

Pvlbbkl II...

Patented Oct.A 8, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WALL CONSTRUCTION Walter R. Keating, Chicago, Ill., assignor to The Celotex Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware l Application February 9, 1938, Serial No. 189,684

1 Claim.

individual panel unit, as well as in the novel manner of erecting a wall therewith, all as will be disclosed more fully hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawing form ing a part of this specification and in which like numerals designate like parts in all the views,

Fig. l is an elevation of a wall section composed of a plurality of panel units erected according to heretofore known methods;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the wall shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of a wall section composed of a plurality of panel units erected according to the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the wall shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view illustrating a joint between two panel units constructed according to this invention; and

Fig, 6 is a fragmentary view of a modification ofthe construction shown in Fig. 5.

Thisfinvention has particularly to deal with walls or portions thereof which are formed by assembling a plurality of pre-formed units which are secured directly to studding, such units generally though not always manufactured in appreciable sizes such -for example as those measuring 4' x 12' and -known today on the market as wallboards. Also this invention contemplates the use of such units in the form of panels intended to be left substantially in their natural condition and by this is meant that no plaster or other finishing coat is to be applied over the exposed surfaces of suchv units. The use of such panels in their natural effect or finish has met with popular favor not only becauseof the elimination of the relatively high cost of plastering, but also because the natural eil'ect is pleasing to the eye, or because much cheaper finishes than plaster or the like can be applied thereto as for example paints either in covering coats or stenciling, or because the individual units may be erected in true panel formation with their adjoining edges not in actual contact with each other whereby the lines of division between the units will accentuate the panel effect. Lastly, full size units and /or divisions thereof can be assembled to create many geometric or other pleasing panelling designs, this being made possible by the use of 'a saw on the construction job.

Fig. 1 illustrates a wall composed of la plurality of units identified by the numerals I0, II, I2, I3 and I 4, each secured in any suitable manner to the studding indicated at I5, such studding generally being spaced on 16" centering with each large panel Vunit of the commercial 48" width so as to make possible the location of the panel joints on a stud. However, the prior practice has been to erect a wall with the edges of the units in abutting relation, so that such panel joints were closed, Due to the fact that the individual units are subject to expansion and construction under climatic changes and other causes, suchpractice has resulted after a lapse of time in unpleasing appearances. In other words, upon subsequent expansion, one or more of the. joints might buckle, or conversely upon subsequent contraction the joints might open, and such expansion and/or vcontraction would hardly everbe uniform in all the units wherefore the joints would be closed and/or opened in different degrees at the same time in the wall. An attempt to illustrate these objectionable conditions under expansion and contraction has been made in Fig. l where the arrows A and B represent forces in the units IU and II which will result in a tight v'closure and/Or a buckle of the joint between said units. The arrows C and D illustrate forces in the units I2 and I3 acting reversely, i. e., they produce an opening of the vjoint between said units. The arrows D and E represent forces Operating on the units I3 and I4 in a manner similar to the action of the forces indicated by the arrows A and B above mentioned. Therefore it is conceivable that the arrows B and C of the units I I and I2may represent unequal forces in those units as a result of which the joint between units II and I2 may be opened to a width or degree less than the joint between any two other units; or on the other hand forces represented at B and C may be equal and operating in the same general direction but unequally in corresponding edge portions of the units II and I2 whereby the opening of the joint between units I2 and I3 will be greater than the opening of the joint between the units II and I 2. To illustrate the foregoing the joint hasl been indicated as closed between the units IIJ and II as well as between the units I3 and I4, whereas the joint between the units II and I2 has been shown slightly open (for example one-sixteenth to one-eighth of an inch), and the joint between the units I2 and I3 has been shown more widely separated (for example one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch).

Whereas the condition (either closed oropen) between each two adjacent units has been illustrated by straight line representation, it is evident that such joints may not be strictly straight but may be somewhat wavy due to varying densities in the respective units and this is particularly true in cases'where the umts are fabricated or manufactured from pulp the density of which cannot be accurately controlled when the pulp is sheeted into its final panel formation as in the production of ber-boards. Also the variable densities are responsible for the nonumformity of expansion and/or contraction in each unit as a whole. The result of what has been hereinbefore stated is that, though the wall umts were uniformly joined at erection, the joints therebetween are subject to change, such change not necessarily being equal in all of the joints wherefore it is possible that an appearance will be established some time later similar to the showing in Fig. 1, which is not at all pleasing, and therefore the present invention is directed to a construction which will give at all times a pleasing appearance.

The present invention is illustrated in Figs. 3 to 6 wherein 20, 2|, 22 and 23 represent a plurality of large panel units attached to studding l5,

the smaller units 24, 25 andv 26 being illustrated merely to show differences in effect by the combined use of units of several sizes.

The edge of a unit such as 20 is provided with a mortise-like groove 28 of a demte depth inward of the unit from the edge thereof, and a similar groove is provided in the opposite edge of said unit, such a groove being indicated at 29 in Fig. 5 and associated with the adjacent unit 2|. In other Words it is to be understood that each unit will be similarly formed with mortise-like grooves so that, when two unitsv such as 20 and 2| are brought into adjoining relationship, the groove 28 of one unit will register with the groove v29 of the other unit, wherefore a tenon-like strip 21 may be inserted in the registering groovesv to connect the adjoining umts.

The tenon strip 21, however, is of a width which is more than twice the depth of a mortise groove, so that when said strip is inserted in the registered grooves 28 and 29 to completely viill the same, there will be a space between the adjoining edges of the umts equal to the,diiference between the width of such strip and the sum of the depths of said grooves, all as clearly indicated in Fig. 5.

Thisseparation distance or space between two adjacent units can be made ofl any dimension desired but in actual practice a space of from oneeighth of an inch to one-quarter of an inch will be found suitable for most any wall construction, the lesser dimension of one-eighth of an. inch being perhaps more suitable for spaces between two adjacent small umts such as 24 and 25, or 25 and 26, whereas the larger space of onequarter inch may be more suitable between the larger umts; this however is a matter of personal taste and therefore is not mentioned in any sense ofa limitation.

The edges of each unit may be slightly rounded as indicated at 30 in Fig. 5 or may be provided with a rounded surface 3| of greater radius and terminating in a shoulder 32 as shown in Fig. 6, either or both of such constructions additionally aiding in the pleasing appearance of the nishd wall. That is to say, the space between two adjacent umts may be strictly rectangular as indicated by the showings in Figs. 3 and 4, or it may be rectangular adjacent the tenon strip 21 but outwardly flared in the region of the exposed surfaces of the adjacent umts as seen in Fig. 5, or

modified to have substantially no rectangular portion adjacent the tenon strip but being of a greatly increased width in the region of the shoulders 32 as indicated by the showing in Fig. 6.

In the heretofore known constructions, where rectangularly formedA edges are provided on the units as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, expansion and contraction has resulted in opening and/or closing of the joints between the units in such manner as to become immediately and plainly discernable. In contradistinction thereto, the construction and laying of the units according to this invention permit likewise of expansion and contraction, but the result thereof at the joints'will not be so apparent and discernable for the following reasons. By providing the tenon strip 21, which positively creates a space between each two adjacent units, the/"eye of the observer will always see spaces between all of the umts but the eye will not ac-l curately nor discernably observe the dimension or width of any onejoint space to such a nicety as to carry it to any other joint (even the next joint) in the wall structure. and therefore slight differences in the separation distances between the panel umts Will not obviously nor quickly be detected, wherefore a wall constructed according to this invention will always have the general appearance of uniformly spaced panel units, thereby resulting in what may be said'to be a constant substantially umform, and pleasing appearance.

In some instances walls constructed of wallboard units such as herein contemplated have had applied to the exposed surface of the units a stain, paint, or other relatively thin finish, l either before or after thev panels have been erected into the wall formation, and in such cases the construction shown in Fig. 6 may perhaps be more suitable in that the shoulder 32 will form a distinct limitation'of the nish applied thereto, wherefore the rounded portion 3| may be left unfinished in its natural state or have applied thereto a iinish pleasingly contrasting in color or other appearance to the iimsh on the exposed flat surface of the unit, the shoulder 32 establishing a line of demarcation/'therebetween which is substantially straight throughout the length of the shoulder.

It is obvious that those skiud in the art may,

vary the details of construction as well as the arrangements of parts without departing from the spirit of this invention and therefore it is' -de sired not to be limited to the exact foregoing disclosure except as may be demanded by the claim. y

What is claimed is:

In panelling the combination of a plurality of rigid sheeted fiber-board panel umts; registering mortise grooves disposed 'in the adjoining edges of adjacent units, the tongues on both sides of.

each groove being Vsubstantially equal in length; and a rigid tenon strip between adjacent units, said strip of a thickness throughout equal to the width of the grooves, said strip completely lling and having its surfaces substantially coplanar with the walls of the registering grooves of such adjacent units, said strip of a. width greater than the sum of the depths of the registering grooves, thereby to establish a space between such adjoining edges, which Yspace renders less apparent the changes in width of the joint between adjoining umts due to the expansion and contraction of the units.

WALTER R. KEATING. 

